Clothes-hanger



F. M. MCGOWAN.

CLOTHES HANGER. APPLICATION FILED DEC. I5, :920.

o Patented Mar. 8, 1921.v

IIIIII @UIIIIIIIIIII IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII .Q5/ I@ @@Ifm@ 7 FI 'ffl/f UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK M. MCGOWAN, OF SPRINGFIELD, ILLINOIS.

CLOTHES-HANGER.

Application led December 15, 1920. Serial No. 430,897.

To all whom t may concern.'

Be it known that I, FRANK M. McGowan, a citizen of the United States, residing at Springfield, in the county of Sangamon and of illinois. have invented a new and useful Clothes-Hanger, of which the fol` lowing is a specification.

rlhe invention relates to hangers for containing and protecting from theft or damage the clothing and personal effects of miners or others whose work requires that they take off their usual apparel and put on clothing suitable for the special work which they are doing.

The purposes of the invention are to provide hooks adapted to support the coats, trousers and other relativelyw large articles of apparel and in conjunction therewith to provide a suitable box or container to contain smaller articles such as hats, collars, ties, toilet articles, etc.; to provide means admitting of vertical movement of the box relative to the sustaining rod t0 which the hooks are attached; to provide means for locking the box in fixed Vrelation to the hooks, to' provide a box having a bottom intermediate of the ends of the box, that part of the box below the bottom being adapted to house the hooks so that they will beinaccessible from below, in order to prevent removal of the garments from the hooks to provide means for raising the hanger to such height above the floor that a sneak thief standing on the iioor cannot remove any article by using a hooked rod or similar appliance; to provide means for locking the hanger in its raised position; and to provide other new and useful details of construction as will hereinafter appear.

The invention is illustrated in the annexed drawing, to which reference is hereby made and will now be fully described and the novel features thereof will be recited in the claims:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of a clothes hanger embodying my invention. In this view the hanger as a whole is shown in its lowered position and the box is shown as lifted to expose the hooks; Fig. 2 is a vertical longitudinal section through the hanger box taken on the line 2. 2. of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 is a fragmentary horizontal section through the box on theline 3. 3. of Fig. 2, showing a top view of some of the parts, Fig. 4 is an enlarged horizontal section on the line 4. 4. of Fig. 2; Fig. 5 is an enlarged per* spective view of the'detached latch of preferred construction; Fig. 6 is anenlargedV side elevation of parts of a hanger embodying locking devices'of modified construction; Fig. 7 is an enlarged perspective view of the detached latch block and guide shown in elevation in Fig. 6; Aand Fig. 8 is an enlarged perspective view of the spring latch of modified form shown in Fig. 6.

The same yreference numerals designate the same parts in all the views.v

The box 9 is preferably of perforated sheet metal, of ornamental design. Be"- tween the ends of the box is a stationary floor or bottom 10 ofsheet metal. A metal 'tube 12 at right angles to the'bottom 10 is connected with a circular metal plate 13 which is permanently attached to the bottom 10. f

A rod 14 extends through'the tube 12 and through the bottom 10 and has a series of 'ts edges, and has vat its upper end an eye 16 to receive a link 17, connecting the rod with a supporting chain 18.

At the lower end lof the rod 14 is;v an'in tegral finger 19. Hooks 20 are secureolfon the finger by swaging its lower end. The height ofthe hooks 20 is somewhat less than the depth of that part of the box which is below the floor 10, in order that when clothing is hung on ythe hooks and the box is depressed -and latched as hereinafter described, the yhooks will be wholly within the lower part of the box and the bottom 10 of the box willbear firmly against the clothing on the hooks and hold it so tightly that it cannot be removed without injuring it.

The chain 18 runs in suitably placed sheaves 21 attached to a permanent structure such as the ceiling of a room, and ex tends downwardly through a strong staple 22 which is permanently attached to an immovable structure, such as the wall of a room. Airing 23 at the" free end of the chain is used as a handle to pull the chain, and also serves to prevent the chain from slipping through the staple 22 while lowering the hanger. A ring 24 on the chain 18 will be adjacent to the staple 22 when the clothes hanger is in its raised position. A lock 25 (shown hanging in the ring 24) has a special key 26. The lock and key may be of any usual and suitable construction. When the hanger is raised to the full extent downwardly inclined teeth 15 along .one of i* and the cham is locked, the ring 2i Win be close to the staple 22` and the shackle ofthe lock will be in the ring 24and the staple 22. and will securely locl them together so. that they can be separated only `by theperson having the special key.

i/Vhenthe hanger is raised to the lull exl i tent and the chain is locked, the box 9 will be at such height above the floor that the hanger is w tion.

clothing on the hooks and the contents oi"Y the box will be out o i reach of a person standing on the floor. That positionof the hanger is called its raised pos1tion When the chain is lunlocked and the Y Vhanger is lowered to a position'convenient for placing articles on the hooks or in the basket, or removing them therefrcrn,the said to vbe Vin its flowered posi When the hangerY is,A in its lowered posi tion and the box is slid upward and latched on the rod '14:,to uncover the hooks 2O so that articles may be conveniently Vplaced thereon, thebox is said to be lifted or in its lifted position.

Screws 32 securethe latch on thetube [The latch otpreferred construction, desig.V

nated vas a whole bythe numeral 27 'and shown in detail 1n Fig. 5, is made troni a bar of dat spring steel, bent to forma loop or h`andle28, 'andV agu-ide member 29 at Y Y Vrightangles tothe body oi' the latch.V -Arec tangular slot '3'O'in theincinber '29 acconiis disengaged. The slot is of sufiicient length toiperinit retraction'otthe latch. Y zlloaliyecl comet/filiation The appliance-of inodiiied construction Villustratedin Figs. 6, fand 8 difers from j the appliance offprefe'rred construction a'l,

' ready described, in that the modified structure comprises a bar 32 withoutteeth or f notches, a set screw extending through the wall of the tube 34 and adapted to cure thebar 32Min 'the different. positions in which-it inay be placed; a latch block 35 fixed on the tube 34 and having a lateral meniber 36, a hook and aV rectangularnotch 38 adaptedto permit sliding of the rod 32 and also adapted to prevent rotation' .of Vthe tube around :the Vbar. "The spring latch 39'is attached tothe -bar 32l and "com- Y ,prises anintegral outwardly extended loop o rhandle 40v and -an inwardly extended member 41 adapted toi-engage the hook 37 to easily removed.

ters Patent'is: c

supportin lifted position, the tube34c and the box connected therewith. Preparatory to placing articles in the boxfor on the Y hooks 2O (already described), the set screw 33 will be retracted to release the tube 34 from the bar 41 and the tube will then be slid upward by hand until the ineinber l1 Vengages the hook 30 to support the tube in its lifted position and uncover the hooks sothat articles may eas ily beplaced thereon.A lVhen the articles are placed on the hoolts,the latch 39 will be disengaged, by hand iroin the tube 34 and the tube will be pressed downward by hand until the Vbottoni of the box rests iirinly on the articles on the-hooks, to hold them tightly; and the set screw 33 will be tightcned to prevent upward movement of the tube To reinove articles from the hooks the set screw 33 will be retracted and the tube will be pushed upward until the hook 37 engages the latch 39 andthe latch supports the tube in its lifted position'. The articles in the boxand on the hook may then be Operation. 7'

When it is vdesired to place articles ori-theV rhooks/20, o r in the boxV 9, the lock 25 being viirstrunlo'cked and detached rorn'the staple 22, the user will take hold oi" the ring 23 to control the chain 1S, and' upon relaxing the chain the Vhanger will gravitate downwardly i untilistopped bythe rino 23 striking against thestaple 22. The latch 2'Twill then be retracted by hand to perinit'the box 9to be pushed upwardly by hand toV uncover the hooks 20;and when the box has been lifted to the desired'extent, and the Ihand renioved troni the latch, the latch will act to engage one of Y,the teeth 15 to hold the box in its lifted position. VThe varticles will thenY be vplaced on the hooks and in thebox. The boxwill then be pushed downward Vby' hand until theibottoin l0 bears iirnily'on the articles on the hooks vand the end wall 31 engages the straight edge'ot one of the Yteeth 15 Yandxprevents lifting the box while the latch is engaged with thel tooth. lThe chain 18 will then be pulled to raise the'hanger soi Y that the ring 2e may be locked to the staple 22 as already Vdescribed to secure the hanger' Vin its. raised position. V Y V'frein the vhanger itwill be lowered yas al-V To remove articles ready described, the box will be lift-edl by be rernoved by hand'. Y l

Having fully described invention, what I'clairn as new and desire to secure by Laet-V 1. In a clothes hanger, the Ycombination of hand as describechand the articles willthen Y a box-having Ya' bottoni interniediate of its ends; ay tube tixedcentrally on said bottom,

artoothed lsustaining'bai1 extended through a said tube and throughthe bottom 0i said box; and a spring latch mounted on said tube and yielding to permit downward manual movement of the tube on said bar, and adapted to prevent rotation of the tube around the bar and also adapted to engage the teeth of the bar to prevent upward movement of the tube and the connected box; relative to the bar.

2. In a clothes hanger, the combination of a box having a bottom intermediate of` its ends; a tube fixed on the bottom of the box; a toothed sustaining bar extended through said tube and through the bottom of the box; hooks at the lower terminal of said bar, and a spring latch secured on said tube and adapted to engage the teeth of said bar to keep the upper ends of said hooks in close relation to the bottom of said box.

3. In a clothes hanger, the combination of a toothed sustaining bar provided with hooks; a tubular box-supporting member slidable longitudinally relative to the sustaining bar; a spring latch fixed on said tubular member in operative relation to said sustaining bar and having a Slotted member preventing rotation of the tubular member and the latch around the bar, and alsohaving a handle for manual retraction of the latch.

In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name at Sprinoield, Illinois, this 8th day of December, Afl). 1920.

FRANK M. MCGOVAN.

Witnesses: Y

, S. ALLYNN TRoxELL.

N. DU Bois. 

